Mandolin attachment for pianos.



APPLICATION FILED APR. 13, 190B.

Patented Dec. 15. 1908.

ways

THE NORRIS PETERS ca, WASHINGTON, 04 c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIOE.

PAUL VON ROHL, OF NORTH TONAWANDA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO EUGENE DE KLEIST, OF NORTH TONAWANDA, NEW YORK.

MANDOLIN ATTACHMENT FOR PIANOS.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL voN BoHL, a citizen of the United States, residing at North Tonawanda, in the county of Niagara and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Mandolin Attachments for Pianos, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the attachments which are interposed between the strings and the hammers of a piano for producing a metallic sound or effect similar to that of a man-- dolin. Heretofore such attachments have consisted of a piece of leather attached to a rail or support and having the portionthereof below the rail cut or divided to form a series of depending flexible strips or fingers, one for each of the hammers constituting the mandolin section of the piano action, the fingers being provided at their lower ends with metallic members which are thrown against the strings by the hammers for producing the mandolin effect. This construction has the objection that the fingers are too flexible and liable to twist and catch between the strings with the result that their metallic members are sometimes torn off.

The object of my invention is to so construct the flexible strips or fingers that they retain their form and are not liable to twist and become entangled with the strings.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of a piano provided with the improved attachment. Fig. 2 is an enlarged rear view of a portion of the attachment. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section of the attachment. Fig. 4. is an exaggerated cross section of one of the fingers taken centrally through its metallic button.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

A indicates the usual horizontal rail which extends across the strings B above the piano hammer O and carries the fingers D of the mandolin attachment. This rail is moved vertically by any suitable or well known means for lowering the fingers between the piano-hammers and the strings, or raising them out of reach of the hammers when the mandolin attachment is not to be used.

In the preferred construction of the im- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 13, 1908.

Patented Dec. 15, 1908.

Serial No. 426,647.

provement, the several fingers are cut out of a doubled sheet of billiard-table cloth, although any other suitable flexible material may be employed, if desired. Between the two flexible layers of each finger is secured a stiffening strip E of wood, card board or other suitable material which extends upward from the lower or folded end of the strip to a point short of the rail A, so as to leave a flexible portion or joint between the upper end of the stifl ening strip and the rail. On its rear side, at or near its lower end, each finger is provided with a metallic member F preferably in the form of a disk or button, as shown, while on its opposite side it preferably has a facing g of leather against which the piano hammer strikes.

By this improved construction, the strips or fingers while possessing the necessary flexibility to swing back and forth under the action of the pianohammers, are stiffened or reinforced in the portions below their joints or flexible connections. They are thus not only rendered strong and durable but they have the necessary stiffness to remain intact and resist twisting, preventing them from catching between the strings and tearing off the metallic buttons F.

I claim as my invention:

1. A mandolin attachment for pianos, comprising a support, a strip or finger adapted to be interposed between the string and the hammer of the instrument and connected to said support by a flexible joint, the portion of the strip below its joint being provided with a stiffening piece, substantially as set forth.

2. A mandolin attachment for pianos, comprising a support, a strip or finger connected to the support by a flexible joint and adapted to be interposed between a string and a hammer of the instrument, said strip consisting of layers of flexible material and a stiffening strip interposed between the portions of said layers below said joint, substantially as set forth.

3. A mandolin attachment for pianos, comprising a support, a strip or finger suspended from said support and adapted to be interposed between a string and a hammer of the instrument, said strip consisting of a doubled piece of flexible material secured at its upper end to said support, and a reinforc- WVitness my hand this 27th day of March, ing strip of stiffer material secured between 1908.

the layers of said doubled strip below its attachment to said support, the doubled strip PAUL VON ROHL' 5 being provided on its rear side With a metal- WVitnesses:

lic button or member, substantially as set DOW VROMAN,

forth. I C. F. GEYER. 

